Tuesday, July 14, 2009

New CBCP head described as a ‘kind man’

MANILA, July 11, 2009─A brother bishop portrayed the newly-elected president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar as a “kind man”.

“This I know for having related with him for sometime especially in canonical matters,” said Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz.

Cruz, a canon lawyer and a former CBCP President himself said he is praying for Bishop Odchimar’s “successful leadership.”

Asked about his reactions to reports that Odchimar talked with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacañang a couple of days before he got elected as CBCP President, Cruz said he is not disturbed at all.

“I read the article and I was not disturbed by it because he is free to talk to anybody he likes to,” the prelate said.

Cruz did not attend the Plenary Assembly at Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila due to some urgent matters he said he needed to focus on.

“[I] was given an agenda by the signatura apostolica (Supreme Tribunal of the Holy See) which I have to attend to as quickly as possible.” (Melo M. Acuna)